Joke Raes
Joke Raes is a Belgium-based artist who works internationally. In 2024, she won the Art Prize at Ceramic Brussels, earning her a two-month artist residency at Fondation L’Accolade in Paris. She completed her studies at HISK (Higher Institute for Fine Arts) in Ghent in 2016. Raes’s journey into the visual arts began with experiences such as an underwater exhibition in the Red Sea in Egypt and a residency with indigenous communities deep in the Peruvian Amazon. These experiences inspired her to develop a unique visual language driven by a profound fascination with the complexity and diversity of nature and humanity. Raes works in various media, including drawings, watercolors, ceramics, installations, performances, and sculptures. Her work explores themes such as duality of identity, the fragility and beauty of existence, tension and balance within images, and the concept of “imaginary walks” or encouraging people to collect “love water.” This love water comes from rivers, lakes, or seas worldwide and is used in her creations, such a fountain 'Petrified water' or love-watercolor drawings. Her organic visual language, at times reminiscent of the lush structures of the Amazon rainforest, combines effortless movement with obsessive attention to detail. Each piece appears to emerge spontaneously, yet upon closer inspection, it reveals astonishing precision. She developed her ceramic work during residencies at Sundaymorning@EKWC in the Netherlands and in Arita, Saga, Japan. In 2017, Raes began her ongoing series of porcelain masks, Mask x. These masks reflect both her theater background and her reflections on fluid identity; each mask is given a unique name and identity by its owner. This series plays with the ambiguity and fragility of identity, exploring the tension between revealing and concealing.
Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at SMAK Coming People BE ('11), the Amazon Forest PER ('12), the Red Sea EGY ('12), Vanhaerents Art Collection BE ('13), the Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art RUS ('15), Az Alma BE ('17), Van Abbemuseum NL ('18), the Belgian Embassy in Tokyo and Kyoto Art Center JP ('18), Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens BE ('19), CC Destelheide BE ('19), The White House Gallery BE ('19), Poortersloge BE ('20), DMW Gallery BE ('21), Franzis Engels Gallery NL ('22), D’Apostrof BE ('23), Verduyn Gallery BE ('23), Galerie P BE ('24), Kunstenhuis Harelbeke BE ('24), her solo exhibition Wandermask in the Japanese Garden in Ostend for the Ensor Year, and the Triennale Brugge CC Brugge BE ('24).
In 2025, Raes will publish her first monograph, be named Artist of the Year at Zebra Ghent, and serve as resident artist at CC Bruges.
Through her curiosity for nature and her uniquely detailed approach, Raes creates artworks that not only captivate but also offer a philosophical perspective on our relationship with the world around us.
NL
Haar werk werd nationaal en internationaal tentoongesteld, onder meer bij SMAK Coming People BE (‘11), het Amazonewoud PER (‘12), de Rode Zee EGY (‘12), Vanhaerents Art Collection BE (‘13), de Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art RUS (‘15), Az Alma BE (‘17), het Van Abbemuseum NL (‘18), de Belgische Ambassade in Tokio en Kyoto Art Center JP (‘18), Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens BE (‘19), CC Destelheide BE (‘19), The White House Gallery BE (‘19), Poortersloge BE (‘20), DMW Gallery BE (‘21), Franzis Engels Gallery NL (‘22), D’Apostrof BE (‘23), Verduyn Gallery BE (‘23), Galerie P BE (‘24), Kunstenhuis Harelbeke BE (‘24), haar solotentoonstelling Wandermask in de Japanse Tuin in Oostende in het kader van het Ensorjaar, en de Triënnale Brugge CC Brugge BE (‘24).
In 2025 publiceert Raes haar eerste monografie, wordt ze uitgeroepen tot Artist of the Year bij Zebra Gent en is ze resident artist bij CC Brugge.
Gedreven door haar nieuwsgierigheid naar de natuur en haar unieke oog voor detail creëert Raes kunstwerken die niet alleen fascineren, maar ook een filosofisch perspectief bieden op onze relatie met de wereld om ons heen.
